How Intel, ARM's Market Values Have Changed Since the IPhone

ARM’s advantages in faster-growing markets like mobile and intelligent systems are reflected in its shares, which trade at 49 times projected earnings, compared with a price-to-earnings ratio of about 10 for Intel. Photographer: Chris Ratcliffe/Bloomberg

The fact that ARM Holdings is rising while Intel is stumbling as the world goes mobile isn't new. The companies' recent earnings reports were the latest reminder of that.

ARM, the Cambridge, England-based chip designer whose processors power Apple's iPhones and iPads, reported second-quarter sales that beat analyst estimates
. Meanwhile, Santa Clara, California-based Intel, which relies on the PC market for most of its revenues, forecast third-quarter sales that may fall short of some estimates
.

But pull the camera lens back more than a few quarters and the picture is more dramatic.

Since 2007, the year that the iPhone was first introduced, the market capitalization of Intel has fallen from $155.7 billion to $114 billion, a decline of 27 percent. Over the same period, ARM's market value has grown from $1.7 billion to $18.5 billion. That's an increase of nearly 990 percent.

Of course, Intel knows that its future growth depends on how well its new chips aimed at phones, tablets and smaller computers are received, not what's happening in PCs. And with $22.7 billion in cash, Intel has more than enough to invest deeply in mobile development.